Do we really need games on every single device that has a digital display screen? Micro games are springing up everywhere thanks to companies bent on exploiting our sacred gaming industry for a quick buck. Stop buying into this crap; these games demean the industry and put profits into undeserving corporations, ones that won't reinvest in further gaming research and development. And they make you look like an idiot when you're playing them.

Video games were presented to consumers on average sized monitor screens. As technology advanced, the size of the screens increased in size and quality, allowing for more realistic graphics. This advance in technology also made it possible to reduce the size of screens. The result was portable gaming devices that rivaled the quality of the early arcade kiosks. It also resulted in Game & Watch, a simple video game played on a screen the size of a wristwatch. This technology existed back in 1980. These games were cute, and taken seriously for about ten minutes. To say they were little more than a novelty would almost be saying too much. But these micro games are back, and in a big way, but for goodness' sake they shouldn't be.

Why are we regressing here? You can hook your laptop up to your 52-inch high-def TV with a HDMI cable and play all these classic video games such as Tetris, Bejeweled, and Ms. Pac-Man for free, in your own home. That's living large! Perhaps you can't afford all the stuff, such as the big screen TV and laptop, which will cost you thousands of dollars. But continuing to buy cheesy game apps for your phone or food processor ensures you'll never be able to save for the good stuff. Sure I realize you also need portability, but that's what the PSP and DS are for. Forget these other micro devices. They are limited in scope, and do nothing to further the development of gaming. You're being served leftovers, and being charged gourmet prices. And did I mention you look like an idiot playing one?

There are games on phones, cameras, camcorders, music players, watches, and pendants. Manufacturers are throwing whatever they can into the mix. These devices are electronic swiss army knives; they'll do in a pinch, but are no substitute for the real thing. Who is playing these games, and why? There are real games out there, for real systems. Do you really need to play a game in which a microscope is required? Why don't you just get something that does one thing well, instead of something that does twenty things half-assed? You aren't taking gaming very seriously when you're hunched over an MP3 player like Quasimodo admiring a dung beetle. Stop being an embarrassment to serious gamers around the world. Get the real deal, not a kids meal.

Here's the deal: Talk and text on your cell, check your email on your crackberry, listen to music on your music player, take photos with your camera, and brush your teeth with your electronic toothbrush. If you want to play a game, play it on a dedicated gaming device. Now excuse me, someone is calling me on my nail clipper.

By
Cole SmithCCC
Senior Contributing Writer

*The views expressed within this article are solely the opinion of the author and do not express the views held by Cheat Code Central.*